Saturday 5 September 2009

COWPAR'S CONFLICT

MYSTERIOUS WAYS
.
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.
.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.
.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.
.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
.
His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
.
Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.
.
William Cowpar




William Cowpar was a poet and hymn writer of the 18th. century whose literary output influenced other literary notables such as Wordsworth, Coleridge and Austen. While studying law he became mentally ill and attempted suicide and was taken to an asylum at St. Albans. During his rehabilitation there he experienced a conversion to Christ which altered the future course of his life. He later became friendly with the ex slave trader John Newton and together they produced the Olney Hymns (1779) from which God Moves In Mysterious Ways is taken. The hymn is reputed to be the last he wrote before his death and the story behind it is very dramatic. Throughout his life Cowpar battled with depression and doubt and on this particular evening he decided to commit suicide by drowning himself. He called a cab and told the driver to take him to the Thames River. However, thick fog came down and prevented them from finding the river . After driving around lost for a while, the cabby finally stopped and let Cowper out. To Cowper’s surprise, he found himself on his own doorstep: God had sent the fog to keep him from killing himself. Even in our blackest moments, God watches over us. ~GOSh.~

5 comments:

Antoin said...

Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.
Proverb 3.5-6

As the writer of Proverbs correctly says that it is a Heart issue, not a Head issue.

In our own Heads we are forever trying to be one step ahead, planning, and manipulating. But we do not love with our Head do we, nor would we want anyone to attempt to Love us with their Head, would it be Love? I think not.

The Heart is the heart of the matter. We are told also in scripture that the Heart can be deceitful and loo it can be. But we are also told that in believing in Jesus and living with Him we get a new heart, as predicted in the Old Testament by the prophet Ezekiel (Eze 36:26 "Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh).

And by spending time with our Savior we fall in Love with Him first and then everyone else, including our enemies.

And Love changes everything!

What a place of Joy is the Kingdom of God, there is none like it.

Tony said...

I liked the poem!

Leonardo said...

Gerry,

It is very interesting to note that William Cowper was bullied as a child.
It had a terrible affect on him, & depressed his spirit.
I think your readers could learn something from this article.

Firieth said...

Thank you so much for posting this here. I've connected to Cowper's poetry before and the bio at the end of this gave me a sense of why that is.

Dew of Hermon said...

Thanks Leonardo for the illuminating article, here is the link for Dew readers to follow http://docs.google.com/Edit?docid=dd3bcwbm_0c7dssp9q